Hey everyone! It's been another long fortnight with too many kilometers traveled for me to even think straight, and I do believe, that if I hadn't set the reminder on my phone I may have been late in publishing this chapter as well. I hope your fortnights weren't as busy as mine had been.

Thanks go out to Pienuniek for her help with this chapter, and her ever present cheering. I'd be lost without you. Also to Sally Hopkinson for her lovely red pen and her help with all of those pesky comma's that give me so much trouble. These chapters wouldn't look as good as they do without you.

We've come to the lessons that you guys have been looking forward to the most. I'll let you get to it.

Chapter Nine – Flying Lessons

The next Thursday had all the Gryffindors and the Slytherins in an excited uproar because we were due to undertake flying lessons, and to be honest, it was one of the lessons I had been looking forward to the most. Ever since I'd seen Fred, George, and Percy flying around our home on theirs.

While we made our way out to the grass by the forbidden forest, I thought about our conversation with Dumbledore on Friday. Isa and I had gone up to his office after all our classes were done for the day to fill him in on what I had been hearing from two of our teachers. He had been quite cheery when we'd reached the top of the stairs.

"Ah, Edward, Isabella, what can I do for you today?" he'd called out as we entered the office.

I looked around the office that I'd only seen before in the pensieve at our house in Forks before we relocated. "Uh …" I had started distractedly before Isa had nudged me to start talking. "I wanted to tell you about something I had overheard this week. It's a bit concerning, Professor."

He looked at me, and he seemed to gauge the seriousness in my face. "All right then." He waved his wand and gathered an old teapot from the shelf. "Let's go someplace where this will be truly private." He held the teapot out as it started to glow blue and indicated we should touch the port key. Once we had, we were transported to a cliffside, right by the ocean; it seemed to be unreachable by anything other than magic.

"What have you heard, Edward, and has this to do with someone's thoughts?"

"Yes, sir. Besides Professor Snape and his uncanny ability to be the cruelest teacher I have ever met—and I do mean ever, Professor Quirrell has me dumbfounded. As you know, when I hear someone's inner voice, it is very similar to their spoken voice, but in Quirrell's mind, I hear two voices. One is his; it's unmistakable, but the other … the other is a voice that hisses a lot; they have conversations, and I think the stuttering is a lie. He doesn't stutter in his thoughts, but that could be true for anyone who stutters. But the most concerning thing is that I've only ever heard Quirrell call this other voice 'Master'."

I'd never seen Professor Dumbledore's mind close as fast as it did when I said that last word. It closed so fast that I had to shut my eyes to slow the last few images that had been thrust into my brain because he had thought of them that quickly. What I saw, though, made no sense at all, just a green burst of energy shot at a wizard.

"Professor, what …"

"No, Edward, don't ask me just yet. Let me get my thoughts in order," he demanded. Dumbledore started pacing while Isa and I waited to see what he would say. He paced so long that I sat down, and Isa curled up in my lap as we watched. "Master you said? He calls the voice Master?"

"Yes, Professor."

"And it hisses a lot instead of talking?"

"Yes, sir. Who do you think it is?" I asked because I was getting worried.

"I have a feeling you have a good idea who I think that second voice belongs to, Edward. For now though, before we voice our suspicions, I want you to monitor the situation and keep a close ear on his conversations. Write down what you are hearing and send it to me via your owl once a week unless there is something urgent; we don't want him getting suspicious. I'll have Emmett do more investigative work in the forest because I want an idea about what's going on around the castle; keep in contact with him too and report back to me anything he sees or hears. Okay?"

Isa and I both nodded at his direct orders.

"And please, for Merlin's sake, don't tell anyone, unless one of your group comes to you with any concerns. Is there anything else?"

"There is one more thing I've noticed," Isa joined in. "When we are around Professor Quirrell, Mike tends to hiss in pain and grab his forehead; he hides it from the professor but because we are there, we see it."

Dumbledore nodded. "That's something that needs to be hidden from Quirrell and this voice. He doesn't need to know who Mike really is. It needs to be hidden as long as possible, okay?"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore," we both said together.

He grabbed up the teapot. "Let's get you back to school so you can enjoy your weekend."

With that, we took the portkey back to school.

I came back out of my thoughts when we reached the grass where twenty or so broomsticks were laid out. The other first years were chattering excitedly while Malfoy was gloating about how good he was on a broom while simultaneously making fun of the present sent to Neville that morning in the mail from his gran. Neville, as we had gathered, was clumsy. In fact, the only thing Neville did better than being clumsy, was being forgetful. The poor boy. In order to help him, his gran had sent him a remembrall. A little glass ball that had smoke inside it; when everything was okay, it was a cloudy color, but when you'd forgotten something, that smoke turned a red color. To me, it sounded unhelpful. Yes, you knew you'd forgotten something, but it didn't tell you what it was, and in Neville's case, that was like a drop in the ocean; he'd forget his head if it weren't attached.

Madam Hooch came out onto the grounds. She had short gray hair and yellow eyes, like a hawk. I'm sure she wouldn't miss anything.

"Afternoon class. I'm Madam Hooch, and this is your first flying lesson." She turned to me. "Mr. Masen, I really am sorry, but you're going to have to miss out on this lesson as your special broom hasn't arrived yet. You'll be able to participate up to the flying part, but after that, you'll have to wait until next week."

"Yes, Madam Hooch." I was ever so disappointed.

"For now, what are you waiting for!" she barked at us. "Everyone by a broomstick; hurry up."

I stood next to Isa as I looked down at the broomsticks the school was using to teach us. They were old and had twigs sticking out at odd angles, and from what I heard the twins complaining about, they weren't exactly reliable. But this was what we had to work with.

Madam Hooch directed from the front. "Place your right hand over the broom and command it by saying 'UP'."

All the first years did as we were told and commanded our brooms. Isa, Mike, Draco, and I had the brooms up on the first go. The brooms that Isa and I held vibrated a lot in our hands; they felt almost out of control. Bits of the twigs at the bottom vibrated out of the bunch. Isa and I looked at each other because it seemed a bit strange.

"Well done, you four!" Madam Hooch called out. "Try again."

Again and again, the brooms vibrated in our hands when we commanded them to come "UP," and each time, more and more twigs fell out. I was going to mention it to Madam Hooch before we were distracted by Ron, who had finally gotten his broom to fly up. But in the process, it flew past his hand and hit him square in the nose, which caused us to laugh at him.

"Shut up, you lot," he groaned, holding his nose. After that, we just let it go and continued to practice.

What I had decided, though, was that Isa was getting a brand new broom as soon as we could because this was not acceptable. It seemed that if I needed a special broom so did she. I'd have to find out from Dumbledore if there was a broom made for Veela or if we needed to order one like mine.

Plus, it would be the best birthday present. I just hoped a rushed order through Floo2U would work. I'd have to get in contact with Dumbledore straight away because it was her birthday the following day.

Ten minutes later, Madam Hooch called an end to what we were doing and instructed us how to mount our brooms without falling off or slipping off the ends. She walked up and down the rows, correcting the wrong grips. What we all found hilarious was she told Malfoy that his grip was wrong, and he had been doing it wrong for years.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Masen, you're going to have to sit out for now. Your Nimbus Bite Me will be here in the next few days." I nodded and took a seat out of the way as I snickered at the name of my broom. "When I blow my whistle, I want you lot to kick off from the ground, hard. You'll need to keep your brooms steady, then lean forward slightly and touch back down on the ground. Ready, one … two …"

But before Madam Hooch could call three, or blow her whistle, a nervous Neville had kicked off the ground, really hard. He shot up into the air, at first ten feet, like he was a cork being shot from a bottle of champagne. By the time Madam Hooch had called out for him to come back down, he was twenty feet in the air; he struggled to keep the broom steady, and he was as white as a sheet.

I looked back down to make sure my friends and Isa were out of the way should he fall. I wondered whether it would be safe to catch him as he fell but soon realized the grass would probably be softer than me. I looked back up as Isa and Hermione gasped and covered their mouths with their hands, only to see that Neville had started to lose his grip. His broom pitched forward, then sideways; it finally went the other direction as Neville lost his grip and slipped off the side of the broom.

It was with a thud and a sickening crunch that Neville hit the ground and cried out in pain. Madam Hooch ran over with a face as white as his and examined his arm that he seemed to be cradling. "Ooo, dear," she crooned. "It's all right. It's just a little broken wrist; don't worry, we'll get you up to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey will fix you right up."

We watched in stunned silence as Madam Hooch helped a limping Neville off to the castle to visit the hospital wing. Unfortunately, it was Malfoy who interrupted said silence.

"Lookie here at what that great lump dropped." We all spun around to see that Malfoy had picked up Neville's new remembrall.

"Give that back!" Isa seethed. She'd really taken a liking to our new friend, as had I, which is why I let out a small growl when he spun around to have words with her.

"One day," he sneered at me. "You're not going to be around to protect her."

I growled a little louder and took a step in his direction, then smirked as he took a massive step back. "That's not likely, Malfoy, but even if that day comes, I'll take great pleasure in seeing her take a chunk out of you." I pointed at the little punk.

"Until then, I think I'm going to leave this somewhere for Longbottom to find; say, up on the roof." He grinned maliciously.

"Give it here!" Isa yelled, but it was too late, and Malfoy had already taken off on his broom. At least, the little punk hadn't lied; he was good on his broom.

"Why don't you come and get it."

I spun back to Isa and watched as she got on her broom. I wasn't going to stop her because by God, he deserved an ass kicking. It was as Isa went to take off from the ground that her broom just disintegrated in her hands. As it turned to dust, the Slytherins started snickering. I stepped in Isa's direction to comfort her when Hermione called out. "NO, Mike, you're going to get us all in trouble!"

We all watched as Mike took off from the ground; a little shaky at first, but a complete natural on a broomstick. I could feel the exhilaration that he felt as he soared higher, as the wind whipped his robes out behind him, and the feel of doing something without having to be taught. He'd never felt that way before, and he smiled at us on the ground as we whooped and hollered after him.

"Give it here, Malfoy, or I'll knock you off that broom!" He could see that Draco was scared, but he sneered at him. Before he had a chance to open his mouth, Mike decided to teach him a lesson. He gripped the broom tightly in both hands, leaned forward, and shot straight at Draco.

Draco was only just able to get out of Mike's way, and by the time he'd turned around, Mike was waiting for him. "What's wrong, Malfoy? No friends up here to back you up?" Mike asked to cheers coming from all around me.

It seemed that Draco had realized that at the same time Mike did. Once again, he sneered before he shouted, "Catch it if you can, then!" He threw the remembrall as hard and as far as he could.

I saw through Mike's mind as the ball seemed to move in slow motion. He watched it arc high into the air, then as it started to come back down. It was at that moment that he shot forward, chasing the ball; he dove down as the ball fell, almost straight down. I could hear the wind whistling in his ears and feel it as it blew back his hair. We all gasped as he caught the ball with just enough time to pull up his broom and land safely on the grass with it held straight up in the air. Once the shock wore off, we all cheered him as he came back into our house.

Well, we did until we heard, "MICHAEL NEWTONIAN!"

Everyone froze at the sound of Professor McGonagall's voice before we slowly turned toward her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before anything actually came out. "In all my time at Hogwarts … could have broken your neck … how dare you … my goodness …" The last one came out with her hands over her heart.

"Professor McGonagall …" Isa started

"No, Miss Swan."

"But it wasn't …" Hermione tried.

Professor McGonagall shook her head at her.

"It's not his fault." Ron at least got that out.

"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Newtonian you will follow me now." Mike looked back at us but looked confused when he saw my face, as I had a small smile on mine, as I encouraged him to go with her.

I was smiling because I had heard Professor McGonagall's thoughts as she had turned to walk away. I've just found Gryffindor a seeker! He's going to be the youngest one in a century. Oh, I'll have to find a way around the "no brooms" rule for first years. I'm going to have to talk to Dumbledore BUT I found us a SEEKER!

I chuckled as they walked away, causing Isa and my friends to look strangely at me. I shook my head and smiled at them, trying to convey that it would all work out. Isa understood straight away that it wasn't bad news, and eventually so did the others, but it was Malfoy's face that I found hilarious because he couldn't figure out why we were so happy about Mike being caught.

Madam Hooch came back not much later for more flying lessons, but she noticed something I had failed to do, and the guilt from that was staggering. The Professor bobbed down in front of my girl. "Miss Swan, what seems to be the problem?"

She sniffled a little bit. "I'm sorry, Madam Hooch, but I seem to have turned my broom to dust. But that's not the worst part; when it happened, the Slytherins all laughed at me."

That shut up the new rounds of snickering that were going on among the Slytherins. I realized Isa was acting, which relieved me greatly; no need to feel bad. Her little play worked like a charm because Madam Hooch was very anti-bullying. It wouldn't float anywhere near her class as far as she was concerned.

"There, there, dear. It's going to be okay. We'll sort out your broom situation," she said while she looked at me. I nodded, understanding her prodding. "Now, why don't you go stand over there with your mate. I promise you'll be in the air next week.

"As for you Slytherins, I will not stand for bullying of any type. You have forfeited your flying lessons for two weeks."

Isa came over to me as Madam Hooch laid down the law. We Gryffindors tried not to snicker at their punishment because that was the same thing as they were doing to Isa. But every single Slytherin burst into protest. We watched as Madam Hooch tried to get them to stop talking over one another and her; in the end, she blew her whistle as loud as possible to shut them all up.

"Enough, you lot! I won't have this type of disrespect in my class! And if I hear one more word out of any of you, I will add a week to your total! All of you go and sit over there, quietly and separately. For each person who speaks out, a week will be added. ConsVisiMensur." Madam Hooch waved her wand summoning something similar to a scoreboard that hung where she'd told the Slytherins to sit before she turned back to the rest of the Gryffindors.

"Right, Gryffindors, mount your brooms. Let's try this again."

It wasn't even ten minutes later that Pansy Parkinson opened her mouth to complain. "Like, why are we being punished; it's not like we destroyed school property."

It was as she was talking that the scoreboard lit up in a brilliant gold with the number one. Madam Hooch turned around. "Just so you know, every time one of you talks, this will tally another number. For every number on this board by the end of the lesson, I'll add another week to your flying ban. You're up to three weeks of being grounded right now."

That was when Malfoy was pushed by Crabbe and Goyle, his ever present sidekicks, to put his two cents in. He stood up, pointing his finger at the teacher. "Do you know who I am?" he said loudly, sounding just like his father. "I'll have your job for this. Just wait until my father hears about this!"

"Ah, yes, Draco Malfoy. How could we forget who you or your father are? It's a good thing Albus Dumbledore chooses the professors then, isn't it, and he's not going to be swayed by the likes of your father." Madam Hooch sniffed indignantly. "I suggest you sit down and be quiet because you and Miss Parkinson have made sure that Slytherin House is now out of flying lessons for four weeks."

Isa snickered quietly as we watched with rapt attention as Draco, who was going to try to continue arguing, was pulled down by the sidekicks who made him do it in the first place, as they slammed their hands over his mouth to shut him up.

"That's what I thought," Madam Hooch said as she watched. "NOW, Gryffindor's back on your brooms."

Isa and I snickered quietly again as Athan landed next to us. "Athan!" Isa called out to him. "You silly bird, what are you doing here?" She reached over to pat his head, which caused him to hop over to her and practically curl up in her lap.

"I need to send a letter, Isa; guess he must have known that."

She giggled as he laid out in her lap with his wings spread out so she could rub his belly. "It's when he's like this that he reminds me of a cat."

I reached over to rub his belly before grabbing my book bag. "I know, but I love that he's protective of Saffy too. He's perfect."

Athan hooted at that comment, which caused Isa to laugh louder. "Yeah, and he totally knows it too."

I laughed but pulled out some parchment and my fountain pen and began to write:

Professor Dumbledore,

Due to unforeseen events in our flying lesson today, it seems that Isa is going to need a broom like mine. I'm hoping we can have her Nimbus Bite Me here by tomorrow as it is her eleventh birthday.

I also have a feeling that Professor McGonagall will be coming to see you about procuring a broom for Mike because he has made the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, but you didn't hear that from me. So, you may need to send a note to Shane and Jacob about that.

I'm happy to pay for Isa's broom, just let me know as I would like to give it to her for her birthday.

Please let me know at your earliest convenience.

Thank you and kind regards,

Edward Masen.

I finished writing out the letter for Dumbledore and rolled the parchment up for Athan to carry safely. I snorted into a laugh when I looked back at Isa and Athan because he was still sprawled out on her lap, and she'd found a ticklish spot where his leg or wing would twitch with each tickle.

"Okay, class, once more; mount your brooms, kick off then lean forward and land!" Madam Hooch called out to the Gryffindors.

"Come on, Athan, I need you to take this to Dumbledore." He opened one eye at me, hooted, and then closed his eye again, causing Isa to giggle again. "Isa, let Athan do his job because, otherwise, there's going to be no treats for him." That caught his attention, and when Isa helped him stand, he was ready to go; he stood proud and ready. I handed over the letter, which he held in his claw. "Dumbledore, okay, Athan."

He hooted, nipped at my fingers, and then took off into the wild blue yonder around the castle.

"What was that about?" Isa asked.

"Nothing for you to worry about," I teased as I leaned over to tickle her as she'd done to Athan, only she burst into fits of giggles. "It's not for you to worry about is it, Isa?"

She giggled but got out between breaths. "No, no!" she gasped. "I don't need to worry."

"Good. Now, if you two are finished, it's time for dinner," Ron said from above us.

We both looked up in shock, not realizing the lesson had finished; even all the Slytherins had gone inside. "Oh, sorry, guys," Isa apologized. "Let's go. I've got loads of homework to do tonight."

We made our way into the Great Hall, and it was while we were there that my reply came from Dumbledore. It gave Malfoy another reason to complain because "mail was only delivered in the mornings." After retrieving the letter from Athan, I opened it. It said:

Mr. Masen,

Believe me, I had wondered about whether a normal broom would work for Isabella or not. In regard to your request, it's handled and will be dealt with forthwith. And don't worry; it was taken from your account by way of Esme.

Your prediction rang true, and not five minutes after your letter, Professor McGonagall came running into my office with that very request. It made me chuckle. Shane and Jacob have been notified, and I am told one will be here soon.

You're welcome.

Professor Dumbledore

"What are you smiling about?" Hermione asked me.

I chuckled. "Nothing really. It's just somebody's birthday tomorrow, and everything is coming together."

Isa squealed from next to me. "My birthday is tomorrow!"

Our little group laughed at her. "Yes, my girl, it is your birthday tomorrow, but it's not going to come if you don't get some sleep. Off to the bathrooms and then bed."

She clapped her hands before grabbing Hermione and running off for the common room.

~*~UHS~*~

The sun was starting to rise in my little corner of the castle, and I was excited for my little Isa to wake up so I could celebrate her birthday. I had sat here, all night, in my nook and watched as Kreacher brought in presents that everyone in our ragtag bunch of friends and family had had delivered to the castle. They ranged from a last minute present from Neville to homemade ones from Esme. Even the Weasleys had gotten involved, although I suspected it was something they did every year.

What I loved, though, was that Kreacher had even joined in on the celebrations and made a beautiful cake. It was three tiers, decorated in a forest theme with all manner of magical creatures made from marzipan. I was amazed when he dropped it off.

"Kreacher, this is beautiful. She's going to love it."

"Thank you, Master Edward. Kreacher just wanted to show my appreciation for all she's done for me," he explained.

"Well, there's no thanks necessary, but I understand. I know you've got work to do to prepare for breakfast, but I'll call you when she's awake, okay?"

He bowed. "Thank you, Master Edward." He clicked his fingers and was gone.

It wasn't even twenty minutes later that Isa woke up and ran down to the common room in all her excited glory. "Teddy, Teddy, Teddy!"

I laughed at her as she ran straight to me. She didn't acknowledge the presents at all. "What, what, what?"

"It's my birthday! I'm eleven today!"

"Oh, my gosh, really? Oh, no, is that a gray hair?" I asked sarcastically as I went to lift some hair, but the look on her face made me chuckle out loud.

"Teddy, I will not ever be old enough for gray hair," she replied with a flat tone. I chuckled again because she was right.

"I know, my beautiful girl. Let me be the first to say happy birthday. There have been quite a few things delivered overnight for you." I motioned to the pile of presents on my desk as well as the cake.

"Oh, that was so sweet of them," she cooed as she looked them over. "I love that they do this. I'm so grateful to all of them, especially the Weasleys."

I pulled her in tighter for a hug. That time of year had to be hard, thanks to her mother leaving her, but she took it all in stride. It showed how strong my girl was.

"I'm going to wait until they all come down before I open them. Right now, I just want to snuggle with you." With that, she curled back into my arms and relaxed.

Hermione was the first to make it down; she and Isa hugged for the longest time. After that, they sat in my nook and talked until Mike and all the Weasleys made it down from their dormitories as well.

"Before you start opening, Isa, we need to wait for one more person. Kreacher?" I called. With a pop, he was in the room, and Isa ran over to give him a hug.

"I'm so glad you're here, Kreacher! It wouldn't be the same without you!" The poor house elf gave a bashful smile as he returned her hug. After his arrival, we all sang happy birthday, a little quietly as others were still asleep, before Isa started opening her presents. It was nice to know some things that were done in the Muggle world were also done in the wizarding one. It made it all the more real, even though I was living it every day.

As she started opening her gifts, I made note of who gave her what present in case she wanted to send thank you cards to the others who weren't there. The first presents she received were homemade cookies from Esme and a case of bezoars from Carlisle. He had sent a note with his, stating it was to cure all manner of poisons until we learned to make the antidotes for them. He was nothing if not practical.

Emmett had sent her a book on all the different kinds of pranks that muggles pulled on each other while Rosalie had given her a soft, stuffed unicorn toy that she could cuddle with. Alice, being Alice, had sent her the very first designs of her new line of clothes for the young witch. They were beautiful and practical, not something Alice had been before she found her niche here. Jasper gave her a brand new game of Wizard's Chess which was with magical animals instead of people; Ginny had even sent her some more drawing utensils, again utilizing the access to the Muggle world, and she received some nice books from Shane and Jacob.

For some reason, Arthur Weasley had sent Isa a box of electrical plugs. He had cut them off electrical appliances, which caused the twins, Ron, Mike, Isa, and me to crack up laughing.

"Why is that funny? And what are they?" Neville asked.

"My dad is obsessed with the Muggle world; unfortunately for him, he doesn't understand half of it," Ron explained.

"These here," Mike snickered, "are what muggles plug into their electrical sockets to make all their appliances work. This is their magic!"

"Oh," Neville said, which caused us to crack up laughing again.

Molly's present was, by far, one of the nicest of the ones that had been delivered. She'd sent a beautifully soft hat and shawl set that she'd knitted, in the same color as Isa's owl Saffy, and it was a fabulous color on her. She had also sent a box of chocolate rocks, and I could tell I was going to have to keep an eye on Isa so she didn't end up with a tummy ache because she ate them all at once.

"Here, Isa, I thought that you would like this," Hermione stated as she handed over the wrapped present.

Isa leaned over to give her a hug. "I'm sure I will. Thank you, Hermione." Isa unwrapped it and found more fairy tale books inside. What was fascinating was that Hermione included some from both worlds, muggle and magic. She'd noted that Isa had loved the ones from when I was a child, which had been stored among my parents' things. "Oh, Hermione, I love them; thank you so much!"

"Me next," Neville said quietly as he handed over a plant in a pot. It looked similar to a cactus but had what looked like boils all over it. "I thought you could use something that would withstand the rest of our time here and could be repotted into your greenhouse at home. This one is called Mimbulus Mimbletonia; just be careful not to poke the boils."

Isa gave Neville a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Neville. I'll take good care of it."

"Us next, us next," Fred and George chanted together. "Maybe you can mix some of our present in with some of Emmett's!" Fred finished.

Isa laughed and thanked them as she unwrapped some of Zonko's joke line. "Maybe I'll just use them on Emmett," she teased, which caused me to bark out a laugh.

Mike and Ron handed over a bag that held both of their presents. Mike shrugged and said, "It seemed like a waste of space not to fill the whole bag."

"Thank you, you two. I appreciate it." Isa opened the bag and found a large bag of sweets from Ron and a book on magical animals, rare ones, from Mike. She again thanked them with a kiss on the cheek.

"For now, Isa, there's only one more. Mine will be coming in a little while. Kreacher?" I motioned the elf forward.

"Miss Isabella, Kreacher wanted to thank you for taking him in when you didn't have to. For looking after Kreacher and for treating him better than anyone other than Sir Sirius ever had. Kreacher wanted to make you this cake as a Happy Birthday and as a thank you."

"Thank you, Kreacher. I couldn't have left you behind to suffer either; you were miserable there. You are not just a servant to us, the Cullens and Teddy included, you are a part of the family." She gave him another hug before he placed the cake in front of her. He helped her cut it up and was about to leave when she grabbed the hand that he was about to click. "Please stay and have a piece of cake before getting back to your duties?"

He nodded with tears in his eyes as she gave him the very first piece. We ate some cake and talked about birthdays past until it was time to get dressed for breakfast in the Great Hall, and of course, Isa's present from me.

~*~UHS~*~

As we made our way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Isa received a few more happy birthdays from some of the Gryffindors who had seen us celebrating in the common room before they came down.

We reached our table to get some of the food left, only to have a special breakfast appear on Isa's plate as she sat. Isa giggled at the smiley face pancakes with pumpkin butter, scrambled eggs, and a few pieces of bacon, plus a hot chocolate. She was going to be running on nothing but sugar all day.

It was about halfway through breakfast when the mail was delivered. First through the window was Saffy with an envelope, then Athan with Isa's broom. Hedwig came in with Mike's, and last was a couple of the school owls with the broom Professor Dumbledore had ordered for me.

Isa hadn't seen the owls approach because she had been too busy talking to Hermione, so she was completely surprised when Saffy landed in front of her, and Athan just behind.

"Oh, hello, Saffy, Athan," she cooed. "What have you got there?" she asked because Saffy had reached down to pick up the card with her beak to pass it over to her. "Thank you."

I watched with rapt attention as Isa opened the card. I could see that the words I had written meant something to her; they were words she should have heard all her life, but now it was my turn to promise them to her. I promised I would never leave her, I would always be there for her, and that this was just the first of many birthdays we would be together for. That I would love her for all eternity; I stated that it would change many times over the years, not just as she came of age. Because the point to love was to keep it changing, keep it fresh, and to make that choice to love each other every day of eternity. Just because we were mates didn't mean we had to take that love for granted.

Isa looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Teddy. This means more to me than anything else I've gotten today. The promise that you'll be with me every day of forever. Best present ever."

I pulled Isa onto my lap and held her; I sealed that promise with a kiss to her forehead. "Every day of forever, my Isa, every day. Now," I pulled her broom over, "open this so I can open mine."

Isa laughed and reached over to the box Athan had brought in. That was, of course, after Athan had nudged her hand for a pat. "Thank you, Athan, and thank you, Saffy." She patted her owl before they both flew out of the windows; the school owls had flown off straight away, and Hedwig had waited for our owls before she had left as well.

"Mike, you got a Nimbus 2000! Is that because of …" Ron trailed off. Mike had told us last night in our common room that McGonagall had taken him to Oliver Wood, who was the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and she had told Oliver that she had found them a seeker. Oliver was so proud he'd decided to keep it a secret, so we were doing our best to do so too. Ron, however, was going to make that hard, considering he seemed to have no inside voice, much like Emmett.

"Yes, Ron," Mike hissed. "And could you announce it louder to the school around us."

Ron opened his mouth to do just that, but Neville was quicker and covered his mouth before he had the chance. "He was being sarcastic. Even I know that."

"Oh."

Hermione rolled her eyes before she turned back to Isa. "Oh, wow, Bella! Edward bought you a Nimbus Screech. Is that what you've got, Edward?" she asked as she pointed to my box.

I shook my head. "No, I got a Nimbus Bite Me, geared toward vampires because we're heavier and have faster reflexes. Mine was paid for by the school because Professor Dumbledore knew I would need a special broom, one that could counter my weight and magic. It never crossed my mind that Isa would need one to counter her magic as well."

"It really should have crossed our minds, considering we needed special wands, Teddy," Isa commented.

I chuckled because she was right. "Yes, it should have, but we're here now, and we have them, so it doesn't matter."

"Thank you for the broom, Teddy. But we need to get them up to the dorms before we have to go to Potions because if we're late …" Isa started.

"It'll be points lost for Gryffindor," we all finished before getting up from the table.

~*~UHS~*~

The following Thursday, we were back out on the grounds for another flying lesson. The Slytherins were seething as they sat on the outside of the area Madam Hooch had set up. The score board was once again hanging next to them, so if they opened their mouths, it would automatically tally up their totals. She wasn't kidding around.

Before we were due to start, Dumbledore had come out to the grounds. "Madam Hooch, before you start your lesson, may I have a talk with Miss Swan and Mr. Masen please?"

"Certainly, Professor. Miss Swan, Mr. Masen?"

We followed Dumbledore a little bit away before he turned to us. "I must advise you that before your brooms will co-operate properly, you'll need to insert a little of your life force into the end here." He indicated the end of my broom, which I could see, on closer inspection, that it unscrewed. I showed Isa on hers, and we undid them; inside was a little sealed container. "This will help to balance out your magical powers with the brooms."

"So our life force is what?" I asked, even though I thought I knew. I just wanted to be sure.

"Yours, Edward, is your venom. Isabella, yours is your blood. I can help you cut the tip of your finger, but don't worry, you only need a few drops," Professor Dumbledore explained.

"Okay," we both chanted. I gathered a few drops of venom in my mouth before I let it dribble into the end of the broom. Once I sealed it shut, I could feel the slight vibration of it before it settled down.

I watched as Dumbledore used the tip of his wand to nick the tip of Isa's finger. She then squeezed out a few drops into the end of her broom. Her broom then vibrated slightly, as well, before it settled down.

"You're now ready to go. Know this though; they aren't like your wands; these brooms will only work for you due to the life force within them. Take good care of them," Dumbledore finished.

"We will."

He smiled. "I know. Now, off you go for your lesson."

Isa and I joined our group again—they were waiting patiently—and waited for Madam Hooch to start the lesson; she didn't disappoint. "All right, Gryffindors, right hand over the broom and command it."

I held my hand over my new broom and said in a commanding voice, "UP!"

The broom flew up into my hand without hesitation; the response was fantastic. This time, there was no vibration, but I could feel the power held in that broom. I knew it was going to respond to every part of my vampiric nature, including my speed and reflexes.

"Good, Gryffindors, again," Madam Hooch called as she walked down the line.

For the first ten minutes, that's what we practiced, and every single time my broom flew up without hesitation. I watched Isa a few times and noticed that her broom was the same—it complied first time, every time.

"Good, good. Now all of you, mount your brooms. Once I blow my whistle, I want you to push off from the ground, hover for a few seconds, then lean forward, and land again. Mr. Masen, Miss Swan, push gently, the rest of you push as hard as you can," Madam Hooch commanded as she rechecked everyone's grip before standing at the head of the line. "Ready? Three … two … one …"

When the whistle blew, I pushed off the ground; even as I hovered, I experienced some of what Mike had felt the week before. It was exhilarating being able to do this without the aid of or being inside an airplane. Once I'd hovered for a few more seconds, I leaned forward and landed back on the ground.

Oh, my God! That was so exciting! I heard Isa's thoughts as she landed next to me, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"All right, again, Gryffindors. I want you to do it a few more times to get the feel of it, but each time, go a little bit higher!"

For the next fifteen minutes, that's what we did. We went higher and higher until we were hovering as high as some of the lower turrets on the castle. We weren't going anywhere but up and down, but to feel that rush as you rose was exhilarating, especially considering that on the last one, Isa and I pushed off as hard as we could. Before we could blink, she was seventy-five feet in the air while my push soared me to nearly double that. I could hear her excitement as she squealed, then yelled out, "Go, Teddy!"

All I could say in return was, "WOOHOOHOOOOOOO!"

After we'd done the required hovering, we came back down to the ground almost as fast as we'd left it.

Madam Hooch was looking at us, and I could read from her thoughts that she wanted to scold us but wasn't upset because she knew she'd been holding our strength back. "If it wasn't for the fact that you two could seriously hurt the others in the competition, I'd ask you to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"All right, for the last one today, I want you to push up off the ground, hook your feet into the stirrups, and lean forward a little. This will make your broom move in a forward direction. I want you to fly over to Hagrid's hut, turn around, and go to the Black Lake, then turn and come back, landing safely on the ground. To turn, you just need to lean in the direction you want to go, softly for a slow arc, harder for a sharp one.

"Mr. Masen, you go first because of your vampire reflexes; you'll be the fastest. Then you, Miss Swan, because you'll be faster than the others as well." We all nodded in excitement. "Ready? Three … two … one … GO!"

I pushed off from the ground a little harder than I meant to and flew twenty feet into the air. Once I'd stopped, I hooked my feet into the stirrups, leaned forward, and shot off like a rocket. I felt the wind in my hair, I felt my robes billowing out behind me, and I could see Hagrid's hut was coming up as fast as if I were running to it. I zoomed to the right of his hut only to make a sharp left turn to head out toward the lake; as I reached it, I lowered down and ran my hand through the water, leaving behind a wake.

Once I'd done that, I made a wide arc around to the right before heading right back to where we started. When I reached there, I slowed then landed. Isa landed not long after me, and the others a minute or so later with poor Neville bringing up the rear. He was still afraid because of what happened the previous week, not that any of us blamed him.

With all the exhilaration I was feeling, I picked Isa up and twirled her around. "Oh, my God, that was one of the best feelings ever!" I laughed.

Isa laughed. "I know! I think that beats running with you, but only just!" She adjusted when I pulled back to look at her.

I chuckled at her. "It really was."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle lightly just to gain our attention. "Well done, Gryffindors. That was some of the best flying I've seen in a while. You've all earned an early finish to the lesson. Go enjoy."

We all loudly made our way into the castle as we chattered and carried on. The feeling of flying was a bigger adrenaline rush than I'd ever felt as a human, and certainly more of a rush than hunting any humans earlier in my immortal life.

It was as we were making our way to the grand staircase that I was distracted by the dual voices in Quirrell's head. The one that he called Master was speaking in a language I had never heard before yet Quirrell reacted to it none the less. I locked onto those voices to remember what was being said. I'd have to do some research to find out what it was.

I was vaguely aware that the others were still going on about flying and weren't paying attention to the way I was blindly leading them, which was why we found ourselves in an unknown corridor.

It was dark when we entered but as the door closed, some of the bowls lit up, enlightening us to the fact that we were in the third floor corridor—the one we weren't supposed to be in unless we wanted to die a most painful death.

"I don't think we're supposed to be here," Ron stated the obvious.

I heard a sigh, then Hermione answered him. "That's because we're not supposed to be. This is the third floor corridor."

"Oh," Ron stated unhelpfully.

We all turned to go back out the way we came when Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, came waltzing in and sat down. She sat there staring at us; it looked like she was guarding the door. I was about to hiss at her when we heard Filch calling for her from down the staircase.

"What's the matter, Mrs. Norris? What have you found?"

"Quick, through that door!" Mike indicated the door behind us, so we all turned back around.

Ron pulled on the handle when we reached it. "It's locked!"

"Quick, move out of the way!" Isa called as she pushed her way through. She'd pulled out her wand, pointed it to the lock, and said, "Alohomora."

A jet of white light shot out of the end of her wand and straight into the lock; we could hear it click so we pulled the door open and were through with it shut just as Filch walked into the corridor. We had all spun to face the door so we could hear what was going on.

"What is it, Mrs. Norris?" Filch had called as he walked in. Isa and I could hear him walk around a little before he called the cat and left.

"Phew …" Mike sighed. "I think we can get to the common room now."

"Uh, guys …" Neville started.

"Are you sure? You don't think he's waiting in secret, do you?" Ron asked.

Hermione and Isa rolled their eyes at that one, causing me to snort into a laugh. But it was that action that made me realize I could smell something in this room that didn't belong inside a castle.

"Um, Mike, Edward? I think you should turn around," Neville tried again.

"Why, Neville? What could be so im … por … tant?" Ron asked as we all turned to see what Neville was talking about.

We stood almost nose to nose with the biggest dog I'd ever seen, easily as tall as the wolves back in Forks. What made this one stand out was the fact it had not one, not two, but three heads, and all six of its beady eyes were looking at us. It also had three very large mouths that were dripping large globs of saliva. It was panting, and I could hear it draw in a breath, getting ready to growl at us. Just as it started to release that growl, I let out one of my own, which caused it to tilt all three of its heads at me.

Suddenly, the most beautiful sound I had ever heard reverberated around me, causing me to freeze into some sort of daze where I was barely aware of anything. I could feel myself being moved a short time later, first walking then pushed into a seated position, where I eventually became aware of my surroundings again. I looked around and realized we were still in the third floor corridor but no longer in the room with the large, three-headed dog.

"What happened?" I was able to ask.

Isa was standing in front of me, but she seemed to be embarrassed, or maybe it was ashamed. Either way, her head was down with her hair covering parts of her face. "Um, that was me, Teddy; it's part of what I can do. On land, we are known as Veela, but do you know what my kind are called when they live on the dangerous parts of the ocean?"

I shook my head; I wasn't following, that was for sure.

"You've seen my dreams of my mother, visions of her, of what she became after my father died?" she asked, to which I nodded. She had become cold and a seducer of men. "On land, we are called Veela, and we are known for seducing men and breaking up homes. On the ocean, my kind are known for pulling men to their deaths with just the sounds of our voices."

I sucked in a breath. "Sirens."

Isa nodded. "And that in there was a show of what we can do to get men to do what we want. Our songs are made to mesmerize males, to make them complacent and able to be bent to our will. Men would follow just to continue hearing that voice; what happened in there was just that. I started to sing, which had an adverse effect on the dog, causing him to fall asleep, so Hermione and I just pulled all of you boys out of the room and then we locked the door."

That was when I looked around the corridor and noticed that Ron, Neville, and Mike were still out of it on the floor near one of the lit bowls. They had relaxed faces, but their smiles were a lot more ridiculous and more than a little creepy.

"So what do we do with them?" I asked before looking back at Isa and realizing she was upset with herself. "Isa, I'm not mad at you. It's a talent you have as a species, much like mine when I drink blood. What you did, you had to do to save us all. Thank you, baby girl. Now please, answer the question. What do we do with them?"

She looked over at the boys in question. "We'll just have to wait until they come out of it. I may have sung a little too strong." She shrugged, which caused Hermione to laugh.

I barked out a laugh myself then pulled her into my arms to help her relax. I'm sure it wouldn't be long before we could go up to the common room and relax, although I had a letter to pen to Dumbledore to get some more information. And I think a trip to visit Hagrid this weekend was in order, just to get our minds off of things. But not only that, he was the gamekeeper, so surely he–or maybe even Jasper–knew something about the dog behind that door.

~*~UHS~*~

Later that evening while I was checking on the stewing lacewing flies, I was listening to the goings on in the castle. I had been thinking hard about the language I had heard, but I couldn't make heads nor tails of it. I'd written another letter to Dumbledore, who had replied with, "It's a language that not many good wizards know or understand." He had called it parseltongue.

I had gone to the library and asked the librarian where I could get a book on it, and she told me that they were only in the restricted section, and I had to have permission from a teacher to access them. Even then, I was only allowed to look in it, and I was never to take it from the library.

Which led me to where I was in the room of requirement, making sure the flies were stewing properly when Hagrid entered my hearing range. He was mumbling, "So glad that the kids are sleepin'. It would be 'ard to 'ide this if they were all awake. Couldn't imagine wha' they'd say if they saw me carryin' three large bowls of dog food. I hope Fluffy is behavin' 'imself; can't 'ave 'im misbehavin'."

Ah, so Hagrid does know about the dog on the third floor. Fluffy? Really?

It looked like that trip to see Hagrid was going to happen on Saturday. We needed more information about Fluffy and what he was doing in the castle. Although that thought was interrupted by Hagrid.

"You're a good boy, Fluffy. You keep doin' what you been doin' by guardin' that trap door. You'll be rewarded."

Trap door? How did I miss that? And what is he guarding?

It seemed that the more time I spent in the wizarding world the more I found creatures that were excluded from my mind reading. Hagrid seemed to be one of them. I couldn't even see through his eyes. I did, however, hear when he picked up the bowls and made his way out of the third floor corridor.

I checked on the other ingredients that we had stored in here so I could continue to make the Polyjuice Potion when I noticed that two additional books had appeared on the pile I had set on the desk. I went over to investigate, only to find that one of the books was all about Slytherin and the traits that were in the descendants of Salazar Slytherin, one of the most prominent being a parselmouth. The other book was a notebook or journal on parseltongue itself; it had words, phrases, and in a sense an alphabet. It wasn't an official encyclopedia of the language, but it was a lot more than I had before. It was enough that I could learn the language, enough that I should be able to not only understand it but possibly speak it if need be as well.

It seemed I had my reading material for that night, and possibly many to come.

~*~UHS~*~

Saturday morning, after breakfast, we all traipsed out of the castle toward Hagrid's hut. I was hoping that if I got to know Hagrid better I would be able to read his mind and get more information; it was a vain hope but one nonetheless.

"So, what are you hoping to find?" Isa asked as she whispered in my ear, once again getting a piggyback ride.

I made sure the others weren't paying attention before I whispered back. "I overheard him going to feed that dog the other night, who is named Fluffy by the way, so I'm hoping to hear more about it or what it's hiding."

Isa snorted softly, "Fluffy?"

"Yup, Fluffy." I nodded.

"Can you hear Hagrid?"

I shook my head. "Not in the sense that you are asking. I thought he was completely quiet last night when I heard him; I couldn't even see what he was seeing. What I'm picking up now is different, but he's not really concentrating on anything at the moment."

"Hmm, that's interesting. Maybe when he focusses his brain concentrates so hard it blocks everything out …" Isa started.

"But when he's just letting it wander, it's like they are muffled," I finished awed.

"So there's our goal for the day. Keep him occupied enough with different topics so his thoughts wander. Maybe one will come through loud enough for you to hear." Isa kissed my cheek.

I nodded in agreement before I jogged a little to catch up with the others. As we walked up to the area surrounding his hut, I saw Jasper working by a fenced in area around what looked like a Wiggentree. It was what was inside the fenced area that drew my attention; they looked like a colony of stick insects. That was until I looked closer and saw they looked like little wooden people, all with different faces and different body shapes. They had long spindly hands that held only two fingers each, and I could see some of them eating bugs that Jasper was throwing out. When I read his mind, I heard the thought bowtruckle; tree guardian.

"Hey, Jasper," I called. "What are you doing here on the weekend? Shouldn't you be spending time with Alice?"

His head popped up. "Oh, hey, everyone. Alice and Rose went shopping with Esme for some more muggle things for the Middle House, so we men were left to our own devices." Jasper huffed a laugh. Emmett's around here too, somewhere. Says there's something going on in the Forbidden Forest but wouldn't say exactly what.

I nodded to show I had heard him, then spread my range out farther to see if I could hear him, but he must have been too far out because I couldn't hear a thing.

"So what are you all doing down here?" Jasper asked.

"We're going to see Hagrid!" Isa called from my back. "We liked him when we met him at Diagon Alley, and we wanted to get to know him better."

Jasper eyed her speculatively. "Plus, you seem to like him as well." I diverted his attention.

He nodded. "Okay, let me make new introductions then." Jasper led the rest of the way down to Hagrid's hut where we found him digging around in the vegetable patch outside, which conveniently was getting filled with pumpkins, considering the time of year rapidly approaching.

"Hagrid! Come, I want you to formally meet some of my family and friends," Jasper called as we came up alongside him.

"'Ey, Jasper. What are you doin' 'ere on your day off?"

Jasper chuckled. "The girls are off doing their thing, and I wasn't sitting at home bored. So let me introduce you to these guys. First up, my brother Edward Masen and his mate Isabella Swan. Then we have Hermione Granger, Mike Newtonian, Ron Weasley, and Neville Longbottom." We all waved as Jasper introduced us.

"'Lo, ev'yone. What are you doin' 'ere?" Hagrid asked.

I could feel Isa give Hagrid one of her megawatt smiles. "We've come to see what Jasper does down here all the time and to officially meet the person who he talks about so much." She pouted. "Is that okay?"

The others started snickering as they could see the effect Isa was having on him. "Oh. 'Course, why don' yeh come on in. I have some rock cakes and tea available."

She beamed her happy smile at him. "Thank you, Hagrid; that would be most wonderful!"

We all snickered as we followed him into his hut and found places to sit on his oversized furniture while he boiled the kettle and served the cakes.

Not even vampire teeth can bite through those. Jasper chuckled in his head as I tried a bite. Isa's head spun to me as she heard my teeth clack against what had to be the hardest cake I'd ever tried. She looked down at the cake in her hand before she stashed it in her robes while nobody was looking. I decided it was the best way to deal with them and did the same.

Once Hagrid sat down, we made small talk about his duties around the castle and shared our backgrounds, just getting to know one another. That was until Isa, with the most innocent look on her face, asked the question we wanted to know the answer to.

"So, Hagrid, I've found that I've got an affinity for animals. What kind of creatures have you got to look after?"

Jasper looked up at me in surprise when he felt Isa's and my curiosity. What are you up to? What do you know that I don't?

I shrugged slightly to Jasper's question but turned back as Hagrid's mind began to wander through a list of animals as he told the others what they were, but they were all related to the classes at the school. Isa was watching me out of the corner of her eye; she was waiting to see if I got the information I was looking for. I subtly shook my head when he'd mentally run through all of them, including the owls.

She turned back to Hagrid. "Oh, that's so interesting. Have you ever had to look after anything really wondrous before?"

"Oh, sure. A few things o'er the years. But my biggest to date would be Fluffy," Hagrid said as he stepped right to the place we wanted.

"Fluffy?" Hermione asked as she caught onto what we were doing. "What was Fluffy?"

"Fluffy is an 'is' not a 'was.' He's a three-headed dog I loaned to Dumbledore; he's guardin' the …" Hagrid trailed off.

"Yes?" we all asked.

"Nothin'," Hagrid mumbled before he turned from us. "I shouldn't 'ave said that. I should not 'ave said that."

But that was when his mind opened up a little, and I was able to access two thoughts. The first one was when he had grabbed something from vault seven hundred and thirteen at Gringotts bank—the one which had been broken into—and the second one having been the day he handed it over to Dumbledore inside the room where Fluffy was now located. Dumbledore had thanked him for retrieving the package then asked him to go get Fluffy.

It didn't tell me what he was guarding, but it did give confirmation to what I had heard the night before. Fluffy was guarding something, and that something was important.

~*~UHS~*~

"Good afternoon, class!" Professor Flitwick called as we walked into Charms on Halloween. "I've got good news for you all. We're going to move on from Lumos and its derivatives, and we're going to start on another fundamental of magic. Making things FLY with the spell Wingardium Leviosa!

"Please, take a seat with a partner, and before we say the words, we're going to practice the movement without your wands." He waited until we had all taken our seats. Along our row, it was Isa and me, Mike and Neville, with Ron and Hermione at the end. "I want you to hold your hand like so." He held his wand hand up like he was holding his wand in it. "And you move it with a nice, smooth swish and flick."

Over the next fifteen minutes or so, we practiced our movements and words without the wands; after that, Professor Flitwick handed out large, white feathers for us to try and levitate with the charm that he had been teaching us.

"Ladies first." I indicated to Isa, who gave me a warm smile.

Isa made the swish and flick very precise as she said, "Wingardium Leviosa."

We both watched in stunned silence as the feather shot straight up into the air, right to the ceiling. She tried to bring it down from the roof, but it seemed to be stuck there like it didn't want to come down.

"Uh, Professor, I seem to have a problem," Isa called out to Flitwick, who floated over to where we were sitting, looking at the ceiling.

He laughed a light laugh. "Ah, Isabella, it's fine. Just lower your wand with the same movements that put it up there, and the feather will lower as well. In this case with you, your movements were too precise, too controlled. With magic such as yours and Edward's, you're going to have to loosen up sometimes. Make your movements more flowing rather than stringent, okay?"

She nodded while she lowered the feather. "Thank you, sir."

We took turns practicing the movements and levitating the feather. It floated every single time, but I could tell we were both feeling that something was off. I had a similar problem to start with as my movements were precise, it wasn't as severe because I had listened to what Isa had been told. Isa was about to take another turn when we were interrupted by Hermione trying to help Ron.

"No, no, no! Ron, please stop before you take my eye out," she called out exasperatedly. "Did you not listen to Professor Flitwick before? It's a swish and flick, not waving your arms all over the place. Like this." She demonstrated the movements. "Wingardium Leviosa."

Her feather floated into the air with no problems, to which she looked at Ron with a smug little smile.

"Look, everyone! Miss Granger's done it!" Flitwick called out. At that, Ron dropped his head to the table with an undignified thump.

Isa and I turned to look at Mike and Neville when Neville sighed with a defeated edge. "I'll never get this, Mike. My magic's just not good enough."

"Oh, Neville, that's not true. Try moving your wand like this." He guided his hand in the correct movements as Isa and I watched. "Your magic is there, but you need to focus it. Focus inside you and find your magic deep inside your heart." He paused, watching as Neville closed his eyes. "Found it?" At Neville's nod, he continued. "Okay, now pull it from there and focus it down your arm and out through your wand. As you say the words, make the movement with your wand, and most importantly, believe in yourself."

I turned to look at Isa as we listened to Mike's words before we turned back to watch as Neville did just as he said. He opened his eyes as he said the words. He watched in astonishment as the feather floated about three feet off the table and as he placed it back down.

He was silent for a beat longer before he spun so fast in his seat it was a blur to Mike, then he lunged at him and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Mike, thank you! I've never been able to do any kind of spell without weeks of practice. Thank you!"

We all smiled at each other as Neville went back to getting it right nearly every single time, but even the times he didn't get it quite right, didn't bring him down so much anymore.

"Hmm," Isa hummed. "I wonder if that has been what we've been missing, Teddy. If that focus is what would help us because I could feel that it was off."

I nodded as I agreed with her. "There was something that hasn't been quite right in every spell we've been doing, even though we were able to perform them perfectly. Let's give it a go, pretty girl, and see how we get on."

"You first this time, Teddy."

I followed Mike's advice and closed my eyes to look for the elusive magical gift down inside me located inside my heart. Ironically enough, I found it right below the part that encompasses the love I had for Isa; it was large but my love for Isa was larger.

I opened my eyes as I pulled part of my magic from my heart, focused on it flowing from there, down my arm and to my wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!" I made my movements smooth, flowing, and loose, and the feather rose with no problems. I could feel the difference in my magic, could feel the control I didn't have before, and that translated into a spell that went right from start to finish. Once I placed the feather back on the table, I turned and beamed at Isa as she did the same back to me.

"Feel better?" she asked.

"Much; now your turn." I indicated to the feather.

I watched as Isa did the same, the control on her magic much better than before. I could see the relief on her face as things went just as they were supposed to. Once her feather was back on the table, she sprung into my arms before she got up and ran around to give Mike a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Mike. Your advice was spot on, not only for Neville, but for Teddy and me too. Thank you!"

Mike laughed at her enthusiasm. "You're welcome, Bella. I'm glad I could help."

We spent the rest of the lesson making our feathers fly, although Professor Flitwick upgraded us to some of the heavier things around the classroom like books, vases, and chairs because our magic was much more even and controlled. The only one of us who was still having trouble floating his feather was Ron; he simply didn't listen to any of the instructions that were given to him—by either Mike, Hermione, or Flitwick. He was still bunny hopping his by the end of that lesson.

~*~UHS~*~

Hmm lots of information in that one. Let me know what you think.

See you in a fortnight with the next chapter. I promise one right before Christmas.